Youngstown State (7-10 overall and 3-4 in the Horizon League) is coming off a disappointing 67-61 loss to Valparaiso on Thursday night. The Penguins shot 45.6 percent, had three players in double figures and held the Crusaders to just 38.6 percent shooting, but it wasn’t enough. Byron Davis had a career-high 23 points while John Barber had 18 and Jack Liles added 13. The Guins led 22-20 at halftime before Valparaiso grabbed the lead at the 14:40 mark of the second half and never trailed again.

    Butler (16-2 and 5-2) had an eight-game winning streak snapped on Thursday losing at Cleveland State 56-52. The Bulldogs shot 34 percent from the field and made just 6-of-23 3-point attempts (26.1 percent). Matt Howard scored 16 points and Mike Green finished with 12 in a losing effort. The Bulldogs have not lost consecutive games since falling at Loyola and at YSU on Jan. 19 and Jan. 21, 2006. Four players are averaging in double figures for Butler, led by Green’s 15.2 per game.

    This is the 15th all-time contest between the Bulldogs and Penguins. Butler has won 12 of the first 14 meetings, including the past three. In six meetings at the Beeghly Center, Butler has won five times, including a 71-58 win last year. YSU’s last win in the series was a 64-62 win on Jan. 21, 2006, at the Beeghly Center.

• This is the 15th all-time meeting between YSU and Butler. The Penguins have won twice - Jan. 21, 2006 (64-62) and Dec. 19, 1983 (90-79 in Muncie, Ind.).

• In the seven wins, YSU has averaged 76 points, shot 47.8 percent from the field, had 128 assists on 189 baskets, committed 87 turnovers and shot 39.8 percent from 3-point range.

• In the 10 losses, YSU has averaged 56.8 points, shot 37.7 percent, had 112 assists on 209 baskets, 167 turnovers and shot 31.1 from 3-point range.

• The Penguins have attempted just 30 free throws the past three games. Of those attempts, YSU has made 14.

• The Guins are 6-0 this season when shooting better than 46 percent from the field.

• Senior guard Byron Davis has scored in double figures in a career-best 13 games this year. He finished with a career-high 23 points against Valpo on Thursday night.

• Senior John Barber has scored in double figures in 12 of the last 14 games. Barber had 18 points against Valparaiso.

• Junior forward Jack Liles has scored in double figures in nine of last 12 games.

• Freshman guard Vytas Sulskis has scored in double figures in seven contests. YSU is 6-1 when he reaches double figures.

• Twice this year YSU has had five players score in double figures (Lock Haven, Robert Morris). Five times YSU has had at least four players reach double digits.

• YSU has made at least 10 3-pointers on 11 occasions since Coach Slocum took over. The Guins have made 11 twice this year - at Detroit and at Notre Dame.

• YSU has won 15 of the last 16 games it has led at halftime. YSU is 7-1 this season when leading or tied. The Guins led Valpo 22-20 on Thursday before losing 67-61.

• The Guins have won their last 12 games when shooting 50 percent and won their last seven when scoring 80 points.

• Barber will be playing his 104th career game on Saturday while senior Dwight Holmes will appear in his 98th contest.

• Davis has played in 104 career contests - 57 at New Mexico State and 47 at YSU.

• The Penguins have had the same starting lineup the last 14 games (Vance Cooksey, Barber, Sulskis, Liles and Davis).

    The Bulldogs have four players who are averaging in double figures led by Mike Green's 15.2 points per game. Also scoring in double figures are A.J. Graves (14.1 points), Matt Howard (13.3) and Pete Campbell (10.8). Butler has made 162 3-pointers this season, an average of nine per game.

    Quin Humphrey posted a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds but 11th-ranked Butler shot 47.2 percent from the field and connected on 11 3-pointers en route to a 71-58 victory over Youngstown State on Jan. 31, 2007.

    Butler’s Mike Green led all scorers with 23 points while Pete Campbell connected on 8-of-10 shots, including four 3-pointers, for 20 points. Keston Roberts and Byron Davis also scored in double figures with 17 and 14 points, respectively.

    Butler hit 9-of-18 treys in the first half to build a 39-23 lead at the break. Youngstown State led 13-11 at the 12:34 mark, before Butler went on a 24-5 run over the next eight-plus minutes.

    Youngstown State had three players in double figures and held Valparaiso to just 36.7 percent shooting, but it wasn’t enough as the Penguins lost to the Crusaders 67-61 at the Beeghly Center on Thursday night.

    Byron Davis had a game-high 23 points, John Barber added 18 points and Jack Liles contributed 13 in a losing effort. For Valpo, Brandon McPherson scored 20 points while Shawn Huff and Bryan Bouchie both finished with 15.

    Both teams struggled in the first half combining to make 16-of-59 field goal attempts and 4-20 from 3-point range. The Penguins held a 22-20 edge at the break despite shooting 32.1 percent.

    Youngstown State has beaten Butler twice in the previous 14 meetings. Since the Guins joined the Horizon League they have defeated the Bulldogs just once. YSU has scored more than 70 points against Butler twice while scoring under 60 seven times.

    The Penguins are playing a ranked foe for the second time this season. YSU opened the year playing at second-ranked UCLA on Nov. 12. This will be the 21st time in school history the Guins have taken on a team ranked in the Division I top 25. The last time the Guins beat a ranked team was a Feb. 5, 1952 - a 68-57 win over No. 19 LaSalle.

    The Penguins are 6-0 this year when shooting 46 percent or better from the field. In wins over Weber State (55.8 percent), Lock Haven (52), Saint Francis (46.3), UIC (50.0), Loyola (46.5) and Detroit (46.6), YSU shot above 46 percent. The highest shooting percentage in a loss was 45.6 versus Valparaiso while the lowest in a win was 39.1 versus Slippery Rock.

    The Penguins have either been on from the line or way off.

Six times, YSU has shot 76.7 percent or better from the line while on seven other occasions the Penguins have shot 57.7 or below. Twice this year, YSU has shot in the 30s, including a 5-of-13 night from the free-throw line in the loss to Valpo (38.5 percent).

    The best contest at the line was a 12-of-14 effort (85.7 percent) against CSU.

    Guard Byron Davis has scored in double figures 13 times while scoring 20-or-more points on three occasions. He had nine double-figure scoring games last year.

    Davis scored a career-high 23 points on Thursday night against Valpo. He had 21 points at Saint Francis (Nov. 28) and 20 against Robert Morris (Dec. 17).

    Against Valpo, he was 10-of-16 from the field, including going 3-of-4 from behind the 3-point line. He set a career high by making 10 shots on Thursday.

    He attempted a career-best 19 shots against RMU. For the year he has attempted double figures in shots on 14 occasions.

    In his career (New Mexico State and YSU) he has scored 839 points, making 107 3-pointers while dishing out 275 assists.

    Senior forward John Barber has scored in double figures in a career-best 14 games.

    On Thursday against Valpo, Barber finished with 18 points after going 9-of-18 from the field. He had eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

    In the past 15 games, he has scored 203 points (13.5 per game) while grabbing 100 rebounds (6.7 per contest). He has grabbed at least five rebounds in 14 games.

    Barber has scored 53 points in the past three games, including 22 at Detroit last Saturday. He scored a season-best 24 earlier this season against UIC.

    For his career, Barber has scored 846 points while grabbing 486 rebounds.

    Freshman guard Vytas Sulskis has made a big contribution in his first year.

    On Jan. 3, he scored a career-best 26 points against UIC. His effort tied for the third most by a Penguin freshman since 1980. Only Tim Jackson’s 32 and 31 point outings in 1987-88 season were better.

    In the past 10 games he is 21-of-44 (47.7 percent) from 3-point range.

    For the year, he has made 28 3-pointers. The most by a freshman in school history is 31 by Mike Alcorn in 1990-91.

    YSU has shown spurts of playing well during different halves this season.

    In the first three games of the season, the Penguins had 126 first-half points compared to just 90 second-half points. Included in that total was a 60-point effort against Lock Haven, the Guins’ most since February 1992.

    Then in an eight-game stretch, the Guins totaled 216 points in the first half (27 points a half) and 292 in the first half (36.5 a half).

    Before the Valpo game, YSU had scored 187 points in the first half and 128 in the second. The Guins had 53 against UIC and 42 vs. Loyola and 40 at Detroit in the first half. Against the Crusaders, YSU had 22 in the first half and 39 in the second.

    The Penguins have relied on seven players to handle the scoring duties this year. Of the 1,100 points scored, John Barber, Byron Davis, Jack Liles, Vance Cooksey, Vytas Sulskis, Mel Johnson and Dwight Holmes have contributed 1,033. Overall, 93.9 percent of YSU’s scoring goes through those seven.

    The Guins have had nine 30-point individual performances since Coach Slocum took over the program. In the previous 13 seasons, YSU had nine 30-point games. Last year, Quin Humphrey had three contests while Keston Roberts had two. The five in a season was the most since 1986-87.

    Guard Vance Cooksey is second on the team with 51 assists and ranks first with 24 steals.

    Cooksey has had at least three assists in nine contests. He also has scored in double digits against UCLA, Weber State, Notre Dame and Robert Morris. In the final five minutes of games, Cooksey is 20-of-22 (90.9 percent) from the free-throw line.

    Last Saturday he drilled two 3-pointers in the win at Detroit. YSU is 3-1 this year when Cooksey makes at least two 3-pointers in a contest. His career-best is four against Weber State (Nov. 13).

    Senior forward Dwight Holmes has seen an increased role since the Robert Morris game on Dec. 17.

    Entering that contest Holmes had played just 70 minutes and had 16 points and 17 rebounds. Since that time, Holmes has played 147 minutes in the last nine games. He has scored 37 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. He is 15-of-30 (50 percent) from the field in those contests. He played 25 minutes versus RMU and UIC.

    Junior guard Mel Johnson is the Penguins’ version of Vinnie Johnson. As the sixth man, Johnson has scored 63 points, grabbed 40 rebounds, has 19 steals, 15 assists and five blocks. At Wright State on Jan. 10 he had eight points, three boards, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot.

    Junior forward Jack Liles continues to provide a strong presence in the post.

    Liles leads the team with a 51.8 field-goal percentage making 73-of-141 shots. For the year, he is averaging 10.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest. He has scored in double figures 11 times, including nine of the last 12 games.

    He has attempted double figures in shots seven times this season, including three of the past four contests. Liles leads the team with 14 blocks and is fifth in YSU history with 69 career swats.

    Junior guard Mikko Niemi has also seen an increased role recently. Niemi has played double figures in minutes the last seven contests after seeing that much time just three times in the first 10 contests. He has scored 12 of his 15 points, grabbed 15 of his 26 rebounds and dished out 14 of his 32 assists in those games.